Christmas Cookies

These are the rolled and cut sugar cookies that fill every Christmas tin in America. Buttery, lightly sweet, and crisp on the edges with a tender center, they’re built for cookie cutters and the colored sugar that goes on before they ever hit the oven. That pre-bake sugar sprinkle is the trick here. The cookies emerge frosted-looking without any actual frosting, which means no waiting for icing to set, no broken cookies stacked too soon, and no piping skills required.

The cream of tartar is what separates these from a basic sugar cookie. It’s the same acid that gives snickerdoodles their tang, and it gives these cookies a tender, slightly crackly crumb instead of the denser one you’d get from baking soda alone. Chill the dough thoroughly before rolling. Warm dough sticks to the counter, the rolling pin, and the cutters, and the cookies spread oddly. Roll thin (about ⅛ inch / 3 mm) for crisp wafer-style cookies that hold a crisp shape.

Pro Tips

• Roll between two sheets of parchment paper to skip the floured-board mess. Less added flour means more tender cookies.
• Press the colored sugar on firmly with the back of a spoon. A light sprinkle slides off, but pressed sugar adheres beautifully through baking.
• Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack for even browning. Multi-rack baking turns out unevenly browned cookies.
• Pull cookies when the edges just start to color, not when the centers brown. Overbaked sugar cookies turn hard.

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of almond extract or lemon zest to the dough for additional flavor.
• Swap colored sugar for sanding sugar mixed with edible glitter or sprinkles.
• Once cooled, decorate with royal icing for traditional iced Christmas cookies.